Search

04 January 2018

BOOK: Douglas A. Irwin, Clashing over Commerce: A History of US Trade Policy (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017). $ 35, ISBN 9780226398969

The University of Chicago Press has
published a new book on the history of the United States’ trade policy

Content:

Should the United States be open to
commerce with other countries, or should it protect domestic industries from
foreign competition? This question has been the source of bitter political
conflict throughout American history. Such conflict was inevitable, James
Madison argued in The Federalist Papers, because trade policy
involves clashing economic interests. The struggle between the winners and
losers from trade has always been fierce because dollars and jobs are at stake:
depending on what policy is chosen, some industries, farmers, and workers will
prosper, while others will suffer.

Douglas A. Irwin’s Clashing over Commerce is the most
authoritative and comprehensive history of US trade policy to date, offering a
clear picture of the various economic and political forces that have shaped it.
From the start, trade policy divided the nation—first when Thomas Jefferson
declared an embargo on all foreign trade and then when South Carolina
threatened to secede from the Union over excessive taxes on imports. The Civil
War saw a shift toward protectionism, which then came under constant political
attack. Then, controversy over the Smoot-Hawley tariff during the Great
Depression led to a policy shift toward freer trade, involving trade agreements
that eventually produced the World Trade Organization. Irwin makes sense of this
turbulent history by showing how different economic interests tend to be
grouped geographically, meaning that every proposed policy change found ready
champions and opponents in Congress.

As the Trump administration considers making major changes to US trade policy,
Irwin’s sweeping historical perspective helps illuminate the current debate.
Deeply researched and rich with insight and detail, Clashing over
Commerce provides valuable and enduring insights into US trade policy
past and present.

Table of Contents:

-Revenue. The struggle for
Independence, 1763-1789 ;

-Trade policy for the new
nation, 1789-1816 ;

-Sectional conflict and crisis,
1816-1833 ;

-Tariff peace and Civil War,
1833-1865;

-Restriction. The failure of
tariff reform, 1865-1890 ;

-Protectionism entrenched,
1890-1912 ;

-Policy reversals and drift,
1912-1928 ;

-The Hawley-Smoot tariff and the
Great Depression, 1928-1932;

-Reciprocity. The New Deal and
reciprocal trade agreements, 1932-1943 ;